Last week I returned to Catherine's large home near the village of Sarrians in Provence having spent a week in her Paris apartment. I met Catherine earlier this year to arrange a home exchange for 2014. I consider myself extremely fortunate to house and cat sit for her.
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| Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux |
Catherine picked me up from the very modern Avignon TGV railway station; reminds me more of an airport than a railway station, and we drove directly to the village of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux. I was looking forward to exploring the village's picturesque historic centre. Arriving earlier than expected, we had time for a drink at the local café. Whilst debating whether to sit in the sun or the shade a group of men brandishing guns rushed forward only a couple of metres us. Yelling loudly, they threw a customer to the ground, jumping on him. "Don't move" screamed one of them as he pointed his gun at us. The short double-barrelled gun looked like a toy and I thought it may be a prank or a film being made. It was all very surreal and at odds with the relaxed atmosphere on the sunny terrace of the café. The armed men then pulled on masks and slapped on armbands revealing that they were in fact gendarmes (police). Phones were pulled out and shortly after about a dozen police vehicles with uniformed police arrived. The masked gendarmes placed the man in one of the vehicles and whisked him off. The gendarmes disappeared back down the sidestreets as the uniformed police formed a loose cordon around the square. Gradually the uniformed officer got back into their vehicles one at a time and drove off.
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| Scene of the violent arrest |
The whole incident struck me as quite ironic given that only days before I had been in the Saint-Denis area visiting the basilica. Saint-Denis is considered a rough area of Paris. My time there was free from any 'incidents' and yet when I was in the idyllic village setting of Saint-Paul -Trois-Châteaux I had a gun pointed at me. The whole event was so unreal that I don't think I was really as frightened as I would have expected, given the circumstances. A woman and her toddler sat down for a drink at the next table some time after the event. She commented to me about the number of police in the area. If only she knew what had just happened.
My goodness, what an experience! I'm certainly glad it wasn't me!
RépondreSupprimerIt still seems quite unreal. I think this was due to the gun not looking real . I think if I had never seen French films and news showing police with balaclavas I would have been more frightened. I do find it strange that the only identification is the armband as I think that it is something easily copied by criminals. I was also surprised that afterwards the police did not address the public and advise them that their actions were complete and that the public could now move again and go about their business. It was very confusing. If you tell people not to move again with a gain pointed at them, I do think you need to let them know when it is OK to move again - would hate to make a mistake!
SupprimerGosh, that was a bit of excitement! Your comment about Saint-Denis reminds me of the time we were there, standing in the square. Someone on their way to work in the mairie stopped and made a point of telling us to beware of thiefs. There wasn't another soul about and we experienced no trouble at all, not even later in the day.
RépondreSupprimerThe day I was there, there was a market and it was certainly crazy in terms of massive numbers of people. Quite different from your experience. I did have people try to sell me iPhones on the street but thankfully nothing more. I try to be careful (but not paranoid) wherever I am, be it in Australia, France or elsewhere.
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